Feds subpoena DRPA officials in spending probe

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December 20, 2013 8:50:51 AM PST

Associated Press

CAMDEN, N.J. - December 20, 2013 --

Federal authorities have stepped up their investigation of the Delaware River Port Authority and the millions of dollars in economic development grants and loans it doled out over the years to the politically connected.

The Philadelphia Inquirer was first to report this week that subpoenas had gone out to three DRPA board members. They are Camden County freeholder Jeffrey Nash, South Jersey labor leader Richard Sweeney and a Pennsylvania commissioner, Philadelphia lawyer William Sasso.

The DRPA runs four Philadelphia-area bridges connecting New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and the PATCO commuter train.

The New Jersey comptroller has said the DRPA was treated "like a personal ATM" by commissioners and others as money was handed out over the years.

Sasso, a 2011 appointee, says he's been asked to provide information about loans he has criticized.